Fears were raised last night that Britain's new aircraft carrier could be vulnerable to a cyber-attack after it emerged the ship was still using the outdated computer software used by the NHS.

Navy chiefs boasted the defence system on the UK's biggest ever warship, the HMS Queen Elizabeth, will be NASA standard - rather than like the NHS system that was hacked into last month ago.

But computers in the flying control room on the £3.1billion state-of-the-art carrier showed the system was still running on Windows XP.

The vast majority of NHS computers hit by a global cyber-attack in May this year were running Windows XP, which can have serious security flaws.

Fears were raised last night that Britain's new aircraft carrier (pictured) could be vulnerable to a cyber-attack

Computers in the flying control room on the £3.1billion state-of-the-art carrier (pictured) showed the system was still running on Windows XP

Just before midnight on Monday it eventually went under the famous Forth Bridge as the captain had to wait for the right tide

The operating system was released in 2001, and Microsoft cut support for it in 2014. Microsoft no longer distributes security updates for XP, leaving it vulnerable to viruses and cyber-criminals.

Experts have warned those still running the software after 2014 – and not receiving extended security support after the cut-off date – are at risk of getting hacked.

Amid heightened concerns that states could launch cyber-attacks against the UK in a new type of warfare, cyber warfare experts will be deployed with the carrier when it becomes operational in 2020.

A Destroyer and other escorts will also ward off any attempt by enemy forces to hack into the systems by using jamming equipment.

Speaking from the flying control room – Flyco – on the carrier, Cdr Mark Deller, commander air, downplayed any security risk to the carrier, saying it would have the necessary security measures when it deploys on missions.

He said: 'The ship is well designed and there has been a very very stringent procurement train that has ensured we are less susceptible to cyber than most.

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'I would say compared to the NHS buying computers off the shelf, I would think we are probably better than that. If you think more NASA and less NHS you are probably in the right place.'

He suggested any outdated systems would be upgraded, adding: 'When you buy a ship, you don't buy it today, you bought it 20 years ago.

'So what we put on the shelf and in the spec is probably what was good then.

'The reality is, we are always designed with spare capacity, so we will always have the ability to modify and upgrade… I think you will probably find we will be upgrading to whatever we want to have in due course.'

Windows XP was spotted on computer screens in an operation centre controlling all air operations. The Flyco is closely linked to the ship's operations room, navigation bridge, flight deck and hangar operations centre.

Lord West, former head of the navy, said the use of Windows XP could be 'very worrying'. He said: 'The bottom line is, the vulnerability of the ship is something they have to look it.

'It would be better if there were brand new systems. I would be concerned that they are not taking the right measures to ensure the carrier is not vulnerable.

The vast majority of NHS computers hit by a global cyber-attack in May this year were running Windows XP (pictured, Bill Gates speaking at the launch of the software)

Lt Commander, Nick Leeson, senior warfare officer in the Operational room of the carrier (pictured), said the ship would have experts on the carrier defending against cyber-attacks

The vessel, which weighs a staggering 65,000 tonnes, set sail for the first time on Monday when it left the Rosyth dockyard in Fife, Scotland

'Depending on what computers are using Windows XP, it is very worrying.'

Cdr Deller said the ship would also be accompanied by a Destroyer that would ward off any enemies trying to attack the ship's systems.

He said: 'With regards to someone wanting to jam my radio frequencies, we will have an escort and destroyers around us that will ward off people who try and impact our output.'

But he warned: 'If the Chinese want to flood the market with a particular widget and they put £30million into it one will eventually get through to the defence procurement chain.

'We have got people looking at stuff like this all the time.'

A team of cyber warriors will be deployed with the aircraft carrier to defend against attacks.

Lt Commander, Nick Leeson, senior warfare officer in the Operational room of the carrier, said the ship would have experts on the carrier defending against cyber-attacks.

He said those are the sorts of people 'we can expect to embark with an embarked staff'.

He said: 'They are dealt with strategically. Essentially they are in limited supply so they will be shared across defence.'

An MoD spokesperson said: 'While we don't comment on the specific systems used by our ships and submarines, we have absolute confidence in the security we have in place to keep the Royal Navy's largest and most powerful ship safe and secure.

'We take cyber security extremely seriously and the UK has doubled its cyber investment to £1.9 billion.'

The carrier's operational IT systems are not connected to the internet. Sources said the MoD continues to apply any necessary mitigations to combat threats.